Pages

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

If you’re able to get access, check out this small article on
Flash Fiction (Smoke-Long Stories) at BBC Radio 4’s Open Book. It
includes a tasty piece by Ian Rankin and some thoughts on the origin of the Hemingway
six word tale

“I went to the bathroom
and threw some water on my face, combed my hair. If I could only comb that
face, I thought, but I can’t.”

It can be really interesting re-reading books that made an
impact in youth. There’s a different perspective offered and the book's that
little bit older.

Post Office was a real treat to read, but carried a lot less
of the sense of romance to it this time around. Whereas I might have wanted to
be like Chinaski at one time in life, the prospect of living from bottle to
bottle, woman to woman and race to race seems a much less attractive one these
days. On reflection, I guess that I can say I gave my early ambition my best
shot. I can no longer gamble because of my addiction and had to give up the
booze and the rest when my children came along. As for the women thing, I guess
that a messy and turbulent phase finally settled when I straightened out. And
that’s another story that I’m not going to share anywhere.

The book is an interesting work, with some really strong
prose. In many ways, it feels like a gathering of short stories that come
together to form a novel of sorts. This brings advantages and disadvantages.

On the negative side, there’s rarely the energy at the end
of one chapter of Chinaski’s life to give it enough momentum to catapult a
reader into the next.

As a positive, the strength with which Bukowski puts into
nailing a moment, phrase or rounding-off is huge. Pieces often finish with
hammer blows that express a huge amount in the smallest of spaces.

The story is very simple. A man takes a job with the post
office. It’s a tough life. He needs drink. Likes sex. Dislikes authority. Enjoys
a gamble. He has tough bosses and difficult rounds. Each episode is told in a
matter-of-fact way. Even the most extraordinary events are told plainly. There’s
the sense of rhythm of the run-of-the-mill and a feeling that this life is
anything but.

Well worth checking out if you’ve not been there before. If
you like it, when you’re done make sure you read some of Bukowski’s poems. That’s
where he really excels.

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

The plot itself is fairly standard. He rolls into town,
there have been murders and there are more to come. Maigret takes a back seat
and watches everything, from the process of the law to the main suspects and eventually
does put all the pieces together in the way we have come to expect.

Included is a fairly heavy dose of class analysis and our
detective provides an excellent filter through which to see the world as is
always the case. The subtle and the obvious are all pointed out as he wanders
between the homes of the rich and poor and the roles of the women are of particular
interest.

What I found to be more engaging than the plot was Maigret’s
personal reflection. He’s returning from a course where the young pups have
made him feel his age. He also happens to be staying with an old university
friend who is the town’s Examining Magistrate. By watching his friend, he draws
parallels with his own life. We get to see into the distant past and into the very
real present of a man who really just wants to go home.

Worth reading for any crime fiction fans, but especially so
for admirers of Maigret who like to collect nuggets about his personal life and
history.

Sunday, 6 September 2015

It’s slightly odd reading a book about characters who are so
known in their television incarnations. I found it hard to separate the Morse
and Lewis of the page from their counterparts on the screen. I did, eventually,
become engrossed enough in the plot that I barely noticed the issue.

The Dead
of Jericho (US)
has a somewhat implausible opening. Morse happens to chase up and old
acquaintance on the day she is found hanged in her kitchen. When the case is
finally presented to him, he’s already been dabbling to try and find out what
happened. From that point on, this became a solid police procedural.

Morse and Lewis form a great partnership and play off each other’s
strengths and weaknesses until the case is solved.

Another death thickens the plot and the ring of suspects are
used nicely so that each of them remains as a spinning plate in the process
until the last possible moment.

Parallels to a Greek tragedy are played out and just at the
point where this becomes a too silly the plot veers off in another direction.

Dexter doesn’t hammer home the final nail in the coffin
until the last pages where everything is wrapped up neatly with all the skill
of a master craftsman.

I enjoyed the read more than I expected. Some of the
references and quotes were way over my head and did impede the flow at times. Even
so, I would happily read another in the series, especially as holiday
entertainment. I will, however, look forward to further TV episodes of Lewis and Endeavour
with some enthusiasm.